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Police Chief Recognizes Police Department's Volunteers

November 27, 2005 -- Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt hosted the first annual "Coffee with the Chief" ceremony November 15,2005, to personally recognize and thank members of the community who participate in the department's volunteer program. September marked the first anniversary of HPD's Volunteer Initiatives (VIP) Program which now comprises 100 volunteers from throughout the community who serve in 27 divisions within the department.

The various functions performed by these dedicated citizens are as diverse as the group itself and range from answering phones, to filing and inputting data into computer systems, to assisting the dive team and mounted patrol, to helping clean graffiti, and working the front desk at patrol stations throughout the city.

Police department divisions fortunate to have the assistance of these outstanding citizen volunteers include the Dive Team, Mounted Patrol, the Crime Scene Unit, the Robbery, Vice, and Burglary and Theft Divisions, Planning and Research, the HPD Command Center, the Crisis Team, the Property Room, Crime Analysis, Crime Lab, the Professional Development Command, the Chaplain's Office, as well as most patrol stations and storefronts.

Below is a picture of the volunteers who attended the ceremony. (Click on picture for full size image.)

For additional information, please contact the HPD Public Affairs Division at 713-308-3200.